James O'Regan (14 December 1901 – October 1982) was an Irish hurler and

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

er who played as centre-back for the

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

and

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

senior teams, as well as the

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

junior team. Born near

Kinsale Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a population of 5,281 (a ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, O'Regan first played competitive

Gaelic games Gaelic games ( ga, Cluichí Gaelacha) are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the ...

during his studies at the De La Salla College in

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

. He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of twenty-three when he first linked up with the Offaly junior team. He made his senior debut for Dublin during the 1925 championship before becoming a dual player with Cork's senior teams the following year. O'Regan immediately became a regular in the inter-county scene and won four All-Ireland medals, four

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

medals and two

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

medals as well as a

football medal. As a member of the

inter-provincial teams on a number of occasions, O'Regan won several

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship ( ga, An Corn Idir-Chúigeach) or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster ...

medals as a dual player. At club level, he played with various club teams such as

, Garda and Courcey Rovers. Throughout his career O'Regan made a combined total of 47 championship appearances for Cork. His retirement came following the conclusion of the 1935 championship. In retirement from playing O'Regan became involved in team management and coaching. After serving as trainer with Courcey Rovers and St Vincent's, he trained the Cork senior hurlers to All-Ireland success in 1966. O'Regan has been repeatedly voted onto teams made up of the sport's greats, including at centre-back on the Cork Hurling Team of the Century.

Playing career

Club

O’Regan initially played his club

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

with his local club in

. After moving to

he joined the Garda club and won a Dublin Senior county title in the 1920s.

Inter-county

O’Regan first came to prominence on the inter-county scene with

in 1926. That year Cork won the inaugural

competition, giving O'Regan his first major hurling title. Later that year Cork played

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

in the Munster final, but it took three games for the two sides to be separated. Cork won on the third occasion with O'Regan collecting his first

Munster Senior Hurling Championship The Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship, known simply as the Munster Championship, is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Munster GAA, Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the h ...

medal. The subsequent All-Ireland final pitted Cork against

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

at a snow-covered

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

in October of that year. O'Regan's side took the lead at half-time and held on to win by 4–6 to 2–0. It was Cork's first championship title since 1919 and O'Regan's first

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurling competition i ...

medal. Cork retained their Munster title in 1927, but O'Regan did not play any part in the provincial final. He returned to the team for the subsequent All-Ireland final against

. Cork fell behind by 2–3 to 0–1 at half-time; however, they fought back in the second-half. In spite of this, Dublin won the game. In 1928 Cork faced

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

in the Munster final. That game ended in a draw, but in the replay Cork triumphed with O'Regan collecting his second Munster title. Cork later defeated Dublin in the All-Ireland semi-final before lining out against

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

in the championship decider. Galway, who had received a bye into the final, were beaten on a scoreline of 6–12 to 1-0 and O'Regan won his second All-Ireland medal. In 1929 Cork retained their provincial dominance for a fourth consecutive year. A 4–6 to 2–3 defeat of

gave O'Regan his third Munster title in four years. The subsequent All-Ireland final was a replay of the previous year's game as Cork played Galway once again. Cork won the day by 4–9 to 1-3 giving O'Regan his third All-Ireland title. O’Regan won a second National League title in 1930. However, Cork surrendered their provincial crown later that summer. The team bounced back in 1931 with O’Regan collecting a fourth Munster winners’ medal. Once again it took a replay for Cork and Waterford to be separated. The All-Ireland final saw Cork take on Kilkenny for the first time since 1926. After a close game both sides finished level – 1-6 apiece. The replay of the final took place four weeks later. Cork took the lead at half-time, but Kilkenny fought back. Once again both sides finished level – 2-5 apiece. The first week of November saw the second replay of the All-Ireland final take place. At the third attempt Cork triumphed by 5–8 to 3-4 giving O'Regan his fourth All-Ireland medal. In 1932 Cork set out to defend the Munster and All-Ireland titles; however, Clare defeated O’Regan's side on that occasion. Cork went into decline following that defeat and failed to reach another Munster final until 1939. O’Regan retired from inter-county hurling in 1936.

Provincial

O’Regan also lined out with

in the inter-provincial hurling competition. He first played for his province in the inaugural year of the

competition in 1927.

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

were the victors on that occasion. O’Regan remained on the team and helped Munster to capture the next four titles in 1928, 1929, 1930 and 1931. He last lined out for Munster in 1933. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oregan, Jim 1901 births 1982 deaths All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final referees All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners Cork inter-county hurlers Cork inter-county Gaelic footballers Dual players Garda hurlers Garda Síochána officers Hurling referees Hurling selectors Irish schoolteachers Kinsale hurlers Munster inter-provincial hurlers Sportspeople from Kinsale Police officers from County Cork